Canara Bank withdraws ‘fraud’ tag on Reliance Communications’ loan account

State-run Canara Bank on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that it had unconditionally withdrawn its order issued last year classifying the loan account of Reliance Communications as ‘fraud’ following which the court disposed off a petition filed by former director Anil Ambani challenging the order.

In November 2024, Canara Bank had tagged the loan account as fraudulent, alleging that loans taken by the company had been routed to a group entity to pay off liabilities to related parties.

Ambani went to court over the classification and in February this year a stay was granted by the HC, which observed that the action appeared to be in violation of Reserve Bank of India’s master circular and a Supreme Court ruling mandating that borrowers must be granted a personal hearing before being classified as fraudulent.

Canara Bank is part of a consortium of lenders to RComm, that also includes State Bank of India and Union Bank.

Last week SBI also said it would term RComm loan account as fraud and report Anil Ambani to RBI.

Sources indicated that Anil Ambani is planning to challenge the SBI order too, bolstered by Canara bank’s withdrawal.

Published on July 10, 2025